Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center Bob Gradeck University - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center Bob Gradeck University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research twitter: @WPRDC, @BobGradeck email: wprdc@pitt.edu ucsur.pitt.edu

History as an Information Intermediary

Over the years, we produced many neighborhood and community indicators reports.

We operated a GIS server where organizations could make maps and view data

We also conduct research and provide technical assistance to government and community organizations

We’re now moving into the world of open data.

What is open data? I’m glad you asked...

Open data is a complete set of primary data made easily and permanently available.

Open data does not contain sensitive personally- identifiable information (PII).

Open data places no unreasonable restrictions or barriers on accessibility, sharing and re-use.

Open data is provided through electronic, machine readable, non-proprietary file formats.

Data Center Project Structure Data Providers Data Users Government Academic Government Non-Profit Academic Journalists Open Data Portal Non-Profit Businesses Residents

Eight reflections and observations informed the Data Center’s structure.

1. Demand for data is growing. Most people either want raw data or aggregate data that describes a place

Raw Data: Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center

Local Indicators: Southwestern Pennsylvania Community Profiles

Regional Indicators: Pittsburgh Today

2. People want to use their own tools to explore data.

3. Problems cross borders. Data often does not.

Two-Page Data Deposit Agreement for New Publishers • Government • Non-Profit • Academic

4. Most data owners are not good at publishing.

Publisher Training and Technical Assistance • Loading data • Writing metadata • Protecting sensitive information • Prioritizing data releases • Adopting data standards

Metadata for All Data • Metadata is a structured framework for documenting data. • It’s essential if anyone hopes to find and use your data.

Licenses for All Data (or Public Domain Dedication) • Allow data owners to set terms and conditions • Allow users to understand terms and conditions

5. Data is like bread. It gets stale over time.

Goal: Automated Publishing of Key Data E xtract T ransform L oad

6. People don’t talk to each other about how they’re using data (or want to use it).

Data User Groups • Using data as a basis for shared conversation • Rotating topics • Open to everyone

Data User Guides

Built-in Feedback Mechanisms

Process to Informally Request Data

7. Information infrastructure is often an afterthought.

People Infrastructure Regional Data Center Staff UCSUR Staff Carnegie Mellon Friends Allegheny County Government Solutions Engineering Team City of Pittsburgh Government Solutions Engineering Team Pitt Digital Scholarship Team

Legal Infrastructure • Partnership Agreement • Data Deposit Agreement • Terms of Use

Data Infrastructure: Open Data Portal • Open source (CKAN) • Leverages University servers • Federated model • Search • Download • API

8. The role of an information intermediary is more important than ever.

We’re Live! www.wprdc.org @WPRDC wprdc@pitt.edu